Titan AE: The version not edited by the UIA
by WinterRavenSage
Summary: Did Titan AE seem somewhat incomplete? This here is the true version, untampered by the Universal Intelligence Agency. It seems there were a few people who were detrimental to the UIA.
1. Chapter 1

Note: I don't appreciate flames from people who don't like original characters.

Chapter 1

The metallic beep grew steadily faster as the green glow of the screen pulsed with each beep. Lines from the sides traced a dot's path among other, less obvious points of light.

"Captain, you should look at this," came a feminine voice that had an iron edge to it.

A pair of heavy boots echoed their way across the metal screen floor. "What is it, Akima?"

Sitting at the control panel, a woman in her late teens or early twenties sat looking at the screen, and deciphering the readings from it. Her purple forelocks hid her face from view as she bent over the screen. She shook her head. "I don't know. The readings are stranger than I've ever seen them."

"Stith, ready at the guns," Korso shouted over his shoulder.

"Right," came the reply from a long legged extraterrestrial that looked quite similar to the kangaroo from the non-existent Earth. Stith's eyes gleamed with the anticipation of using the laser gun. Loud thumps echoed around the harsh, metal room as she neglected to use the stairs.

"I still can't make it out," said Akima, controlling her voice to not sound uneasy.

"Gune, come here," Korso commanded.

A squat, gnome-looking creature with a frog-like head scurried from a back room where there were tinny beeps aplenty. He looked up expectantly at Korso, his big eyes reflecting the harsh light of the spaceship.

"See if you can find out what the hell that is," he said pointing at the tracking screen as Akima moved over.

Gune oohed over the screen for a while tracing his stubby, yet agile fingers over the glowing screen. Korso gazed intently, trying to discern Gune's mutterings. Gune abruptly sputtered in excitement and fear.

"Ah, it's Drej!" he repeatedly said in a high-pitched voice.

Korso immediately reacted. "Stith, fire!"

The ship jolted the impact of the laser gun firing, and it echoed with Stith's sadistic scream. Korso and Akima watched through the cockpit window as the bright light headed towards the distant, blue object, narrowly missing it.

"Dammit!" screamed Stith and prepared to fire again.

"No no no! Not Drej!" screeched the ecstatic Gune. "Life forms on it!"

"Wait, Stith!" Korso shouted.

Akima turned to him. "Drej don't show up as life forms. They're pure energy."

Korso leaned over, putting his hands on the control panel, and stared out the window. "They aren't going anywhere, just drifting." His calm mask hid his calculating resolve. "Take us closer, Akima," he said, nodding his head at her.

Akima guiding the ship carefully closer to the strange object, bringing them parallel to it.

As the crew studied it, the only sounds heard were the mechanical bleeps and Gune's dread-filled mutterings.

A door slid open with a whoosh of air. A gangly creature with a large ear on one side and a metal plate on the other side of its head walked through. "I heard there was some excitement. Anything I can do to –" He cut off as he let his eyes follow to what everyone else was staring at. "Good gosh. What happened?"

Preed's voice broke the awful spell that held everyone glued to the blasted ship beside them. Akima pressed a series of buttons and read the information that appeared on the screen. The short-range scanners inspected the blast scars on the ship's hull, and the electric blue energy surges near a gaping hole that went right through the entire ship.

"The Drej readings from the radar were actually residue emissions from the energy surges," she said coolly, trying to remain a calm face despite the awful scene.

"Why would the Drej attack such a little ship?" voiced Stith.

As if revived by the simple question, Korso blinked and turned to Gune. "You said something about life forms."

"Yes Captain," Gune replied in a calmer, but still high-pitched voice. He bent over the green, glowing screen once more. "Two."

"That is a little ship, but it would need more than two to pilot it." Preed stepped closer to examine the readings over Akima's shoulder.

_Drej attacked two life forms, posing no threat._ Akima thought quizzically. "Captain, they may be humans."

"I think you're right. The Drej have no quarrel with other species. Unless-" Korso started.

"Captain, the life signs are fading," Gune said hysterically.

Akima spoke immediately afterwards. "The ship's life support is failing."

"Get it into the docking bay, now!" barked Korso.

There was a hiss of air as the docking bay doors shut, and the room repressurized. The light on the hatch turned green, and the locked clicked back, echoing in the room. Stith urgently spun the handle until the door swung back, revealing the battered ship. The air was filled with the stench of charred titanium.

And scorched flesh.

"Quick, get inside and find them, if they're still living." Korso looked pointedly at Preed.

Preed crawled through the gaping hole in the side of the ship, grumbling all the way. The jagged hull occasionally scratched him, and he would let out a sharp cuss. Once inside, Stith tossed him a small, medical device.

"Thank-you precious for your wonderful choice in tools," he mocked.

"Just find the two life forms," Korso answered tersely.

Preed looked around, cocking his one ear in all directions. He sniffed the air tentatively. It was clogged with carbon smoke and open, burnt flesh. Gingerly sorting through the rubble, he found remains of the main console, and what appeared to be a chair. There was a sudden crackle as another circuit shorted out to his right. As Preed jerked his head in the general direction of the runaway electric bolt, he saw a bruised and bloody hand, clutching the helm.

Working his way over, Preed hauled wreckage out of his path. As he finished clearing the debris away from the body, it gave a painful groan and shifted.

Preed gave a disgusted grunt. "It's human alright, a bloody mess of a one."

"Bring it out, Preed!" Stith snapped, her patience worn thin.

Preed dragged the broken body towards the opening. It was a lanky, teenage boy, no more than fifteen. His almost black hair shone in the hazy light with a crimson glow of blood.

"Is he alive?" Akima asked with an indifferent mask on her face, but Preed knew the hopeful glint in her eye.

"He groaned, precious. That usually means he's alive," Preed stated sarcastically.

As Stith flipped the boy over her shoulder and headed to sickbay, Preed flicked the top open on the mechanical device she had given him. It gave a series of beeps before slowing to a steady beat. As Preed moved across the room, the beeps became faster. As he set the device down to lift a sheet of rubble, he uncovered a second body.

"Damn, that's not good."


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Preed stared down at the mangled, stagnant body. If not for the medical device, Preed would have believed it to be dead. The neck was twisted at an impossible angle; turned as farther left than was possible, and bent backwards. The exposed flesh was pockmarked with bits of debris, and thick blood oozed from most of the indents. The radius and ulna of one arm were obviously broken, poking through the flesh. The clothing was rent and scorched from a vicious blast. The exposed flesh was raised and blistered from the some tremendous energy source.

_Most likely the Drej blast._ Preed continued to haul away seared metal pieces.

Akima watched as Preed appeared in the opening, hauling something that looked vaguely human. "Holy fuck," she whispered as the body was dragged out. "Are you sure this one's even alive?" she asked a sickly-looking Preed.

Unlike his usual self, he said nothing. He looked only too happy to have an excuse to look away from the gnarled body. Gune gave a series of squeals and tried to cover his eyes. Korso stared at it stone-faced.

Stith appeared in the doorway. "Whaddi miss?" she said, wiping her hands on her black poly-vinyl pants. When she saw what everyone was staring at, she sobered considerably.

The whole atmosphere jumped as Akima suddenly grabbed the body and started carrying it to Stith. "Quick, into sickbay," she commanded as Stith lifted it from her shoulders.

Korso, Gune and Preed watched from outside the open doorway as Stith helped Akima work madly to preserve the two people's lives. Even though they knew Akima had a rebellious side, the long stream of curses she let slip regularly astonished even Gune into silence. It seemed hours before Akima stopped, and placed all the medical tools in the disinfector. Stith walked past them, looking grimmer than usual. Gune followed her, prattling on and on about some possible ways the people were injured. Akima walked out of the room, her face set in a bleak façade.

"He will most likely survive, but it doesn't look like she'll last the next couple of hours." She turned and habitually sealed the door.

As they headed down the hall, Korso noticed that Akima wasn't following. He turned and saw her fast asleep on the cold, mesh flooring, leaning against the door.

Preed stopped to see what was taking Korso so long, and saw Akima sleeping against the sickbay door. " 'Every door can be shut but death's door,' " he quoted austerely.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Waking up was like trying to make a dull, rusty knife slice cleanly through titanium chains.

_It's worse than waking up from a hangover._ she thought bleakly to herself. Even her thoughts were sluggish. Remembering those hangovers, she purposefully kept her eyes completely shut. She strained her ears to hear whatever there was to hear. A constant hum resonated close to her right. It was pitched so low that she felt it rather than heard it. Every few seconds, the machine would beep, making her heart beat. _A life support machine? What the hell?_ Then the memories flooded back in a torrent into her mind. There were so many that she had to tell herself to calm down.

_The Drej._

_They attacked us._

_Us…_

_Tejor!_

She desperately tried to sit up, forcing her eyes open. She didn't know what shocked her more; the agonizing pain that shot through her left arm and neck, or the blackness that met her gaping eyes.

_The lights are off._ she tried reassuring herself. She tried not crying out in pain, and quickly breathed in as she brought the arm that would move up to her face. She waved her hand in front of her eyes. She could only see a great void. She couldn't see anything.

_Shit._

_Where's Tej?_

She purposefully stood, biting her tongue against crying out, and put her good arm out in front. She felt something snag on the inside of her elbow, and tear out. With a sharp gasp, she drew her arm back towards her, clutching her elbow. She could feel something wet and sticky trickle down her arm; her own blood. She continued to move forward putting her arm out in front of her. Her thighs bumped into something. She frantically put her arm down and searched what she had run into. It was long and flat.

_Another palette, but it's empty._ "Tej?" she cried out, but came out in no more than a rasp. Pushing her lungs to draw another searing breath, she cried out more forcefully, "Tej!" It was little better. She moved around more frenziedly. She stumbled as she tripped over something, and landed on a very cold, very hard, very dead floor. She must have knocked something over on the way down, for the room was soon echoing incessantly with clatters. Standing up, she ran into another object, falling to the floor again, swearing in almost coherent streams. No matter how hard she tried she couldn't find a way out. She only kept colliding with things and staggering around. It was horrible not being able to see anything.

Amid the entire clamor, she heard the whoosh of a door opening almost directly behind her. She felt arms encircle her and try to hold her still.

"It's all right, calm down human," a mocking, silken voice said hurriedly.

She jerked her head backwards to where his head should be. She felt a satisfying thump, even if it did hurt her own neck severely. It was enough to stun him, and they started to fall backwards. She threw her hand back and felt something jutting from his belt. She snatched it rapidly before they hit the floor. As soon as they hit it, she rolled away, clutching her prize and her injured arm close to her chest. By the way it fit comfortably into her hand, she knew it was a ray gun. She leapt to her feet, holding the ray gun out in front of her, spinning to find the person that had tried to suppress her.

She heard him cough as he struggled to his feet. She immediately pointed the ray gun to where the sound emanated from.

"You can put that down, precious." Then, by his footsteps she could tell that he moved closer. "No one's going to hurt you."

She moved backwards carefully, not wanting to trip on something. She kept the ray gun pointed in the direction of the droning voice. "You'll plant you fucking feet right where you are and only speak when I ask you a fucking question!" She didn't want to get caught unawares, blind though she was.

"No one's-" the voice began.

She squeezed the lever, sending a blast the other creature's way.

"There's no need to get gun happy," he said. "That spot is already filled," he added in an undertone.

"Fuck you!" she roared, pressing the lever again, but before she could, the ray gun was knocked out of her hand.

Before she could react, a strong pair of hands encircled her, twisting her good arm around her. She felt something prick her neck, and she felt suddenly drowsy. She pushed her mind to not succumb to the blackness surrounding it, and focused on her situation.

"My thanks to you, Korso." It was the one she had tried wound, or worse. "Had you not been there, I probably would have had the other side blown off."

Then she blacked out…


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

…_Had you not been there, I probably would have had the other side blown off…_

Her eyes sprang open, her mind not willing to slumber any longer. Instead of her eyes being greeted by light and motion, she saw nothing.

_Dammit._ she thought cynically.

"Ah, so you're awake now." It was a feminine voice hardened by years of trial.

She tried to rise from the palette, but she felt firm pressure on her shoulders. Not threatening like the other creature from last time she tried to escape; this was a kind of all knowing, understanding reassurance that she was in safe hands.

But she wouldn't let herself fall for this. Anyone who had done this in her life had eventually turned against her. Except Lanzer. "Let me go, bitch." She struggled to rise again.

"There's no hurry, you can't get anywhere." Again that pressure at her shoulders pushed downwards. "I be amazed if you could even get your way out of sick bay."

Realizing the woman was right, she stopped struggling, and lay back down. It felt like heaven, letting all her strained and broken muscles lay at ease. But she wouldn't let her face show it. Not with someone she didn't know.

As if reading her thoughts, the woman spoke again. "I'm Akima, pilot of the Valykrie."

Thankful for the conversation, she played along, hoping to get any information necessary to escape the ship. "Akima, it sounds Julontian."

"My parents studied Julontian society. They were fascinated with it. I'm actually human," she finished.

She must have looked skeptical, for Akima lifted her hand and pressed it to what must have been her face.

As she felt Akima's face, she began to understand how old Bob had had to live back at the drifter colony. No matter how much she willed her fingers to "see" for her, the picture created in her mind of Akima was still as much of a void as what her eyes were confronted with. She let her arm drop back down, not completely satisfied with the half picture she had created.

"Excuse me for being so forward, but what's your name?" Akima asked with a slightly acidic undertone.

"What do you want to know that for?" She tensed slightly. She didn't want to just hand out her name to someone who could turn her in.

"Well seeing as how I gave you my name, not to mention I saved your ass, I think I deserve a little information about you," Akima returned hotly.

She could have screamed in relief. Six months of running had wound her up as tight as a recoiled spring. "Kenji," she replied more calmly.

Akima gave a murmur of approval, and Kenji listened as she walked somewhere to her left. Kenji noticed that the life support machine was silent. She guessed that Akima wasn't looking, and used the chance to sit up. She groaned, pressing her good arm to her stomach; it felt as if someone had walloped her decently.

Akima's protests were interrupted by the whoosh of the mechanical door. Kenji's heart leapt when she heard a familiar cry.

"Lanzer!" she said with a smirk on her face, not ready for when he tumbled into her. She felt arms encircle her, but this time, she let them; it was Lanzer.

"Good to see you alive, Kenji," Lanzer remarked. His voice, though normally hard and steely, was tinged with emotion that no other than Kenji could detect. "But man, don't you look wasted," he stated as he stepped away from her.

Kenji smirked. "You can say I look like shit, Lanz. I feel like shit."

Lanzer chuckled throatily.

"How are you?" Kenji asked meaningfully.

"Fine, mostly cuts and bruises." He paused for a moment. "Akima fixed my ribs."

"Your ribs?" Kenji asked incredulously. "It didn't think you got crushed."

"It was after you went unconscious. I think we hit some rock, 'cause the whole ship seemed to fall on me. But I'm fine now."

Kenji nodded. "So, who are these people? I know a couple names, but nothing else."

Lanz grasped her meaning. "No worries, they're all renegades themselves. No chance of them going willingly to the UIA." He paused again. "Is it true, you really are blind?"

"I'm as fucking blind as old Bob," she snapped. She changed the subject, feeling somewhat sorry for barking so harshly at Lanz. "Tell me, is there something tying my arm in place?"

"Yah, you want it off?"

"Duh."

She felt fingers work at some bindings at her waist and shoulder before the contraption fell away. She bit her tongue as a sharp twist of pain spiraled through her shoulder and down her arm. She was thankful it didn't last long.

Kenji heard Akima's booted footsteps come closer.

"Look, the probe can fix your arm, but not your shoulder, you'd be better off with the cast until your shoulder heals properly."

"What'll happen if I don't?" asked Kenji skeptically, an eyebrow raised.

"Your arm'll hang pointing behind you, and could be stiff for the rest of your life," she stated matter-of-factly.

"Fuck the shoulder." Kenji listened for a retort, but didn't hear anything.

Then Akima said something. "Glad to see you at least aren't a weakling."

Kenji's respect for her rocketed ten-fold. "What did you say you did on this ship?"

"I'm the pilot," Akima stated. To Kenji it sounded as if she recognized that she accepted her.

"Any chance that the pilot turned physician would allow me to walk around?"

"Grab her boots," directed Akima at Lanzer.


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Preed cussed aloud when the tracker went haywire again. He had been trying to fix it for the past couple of months, and whenever he seemed to get it just to the edge of working satisfactory, some new circuit would short out. He got up from off the floor to stare at the fuzzy, conical display. Where there was supposed to be planet systems, nebulas, and galaxies, he only saw bright, green lines jumping and swivelling around. He tossed the processor onto Gune's workstation and headed out of the confining room. He glanced around sharply when he heard a mechanical door slide open. Seeing what walked through made him forget the problems with the tracker and cuss anew.

When Akima glanced his way meaningfully, Preed did his best to stay silent and out of the way. Instead, he sat down on one of the steps leading down from Gune's workroom and scrutinized the three humans as they walked around. The blind girl's face had a strange expression on it, like she knew he was there, but didn't want to bother confronting him. She allowed herself to be guided around the room, pausing occasionally to feel something. He was disgusted with the way she moved around, confident, and with a cool demeanour. Preed was even more disgusted however when he realized that his mind found her attractive, for a human.

She was tall, almost a half a head taller than Akima. She would most definitely be the same height as him. Her chocolate hair was fairly short at the back, but angled down so that her forelocks reached her chin. Her skin was dark, but nothing about her suggested that she was of African descent. She wore a dark crimson shirt that had open shoulders, with straps leading down her arm to where they reached her sleeves just above her elbows. Her tight, black jeans had a flare near the bottoms, and her boots were covered in silver buckles and zippers. She wore many silver rings on her fingers, and there were a few silver chains around her neck, most of them short. One ear had five silver earrings; one near the top of her ear was joined with a silver chain to another at the bottom. The other ear had only two, a silver cast on the outside, and a hoop on the inside. Preed felt his eyes being drawn to her full breasts, and told himself to look away from such a pathetic human. But the more he told himself, the more his fingers ached to touch them, to feel how soft human skin is.

He was broken out of his reverie by someone clambering up the stairs. Gune was animatedly jabbering on to him to come down and meet Kenji. Preed hurriedly motioned for Gune to stay silent, but she had already noticed.

"Preed, is it?" she asked in a voice just as hard and cold as the silver jewellery she wore. Blind though she was, it was uncanny how she could follow his every move down the stairs.

When Preed had reached the bottom, he noticed that her hand was stuck out, waiting to be grasped in a handshake. Her dead eyes were pointed right at him, and he wondered if she really was blind. Not wanting to have the others see him as a coward, he seized her hand, and had every intention of showing her that he wasn't the scum she thought he was. He didn't expect her to drag him forward, and almost flinched when she raised her other arm towards his head. Akima stepped forward, and was ready to subdue her should she decide to attack him. The boy, whom Preed already knew as Lanzer, merely stood back with his hand in his pocket, a smug look on his hardened face. Preed heard a metallic clank as he felt something grasp the side of his head. Her fingers danced across the metal plate until they fell away.

"The other side blown off…" She smirked knowingly. "Must have been quite the gun fight." Her hand tightened around his. "Kenji."

He replied by squeezing his hand even tighter. "Preed," he added simply, not quite sure what to do.

"So I've heard. I hope the bruise on your chin isn't too painful. Not many humans like to wake up with an Akrenian close by, you know, slave trading."

"Is this supposed to be a truce?" Preed asked, once again in his mocking voice. She wasn't quite like other humans he decided. _She could almost pass as Akrenian,_ he thought indulgently.

"Only until you decide to trade me away as a slave, or otherwise," she added, sliding her eyes downwards slightly before snapping them abruptly up again, as if she really could see.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

"I wish that damn girl would wake up. It would make this so much easier," grumbled Stith, as she crawled through the open hole of the battered ship. "At least then we wouldn't have to examine every inch of this piece of shit." Her shirt caught on a jutting piece of titanium, and she paused a moment to tear back the charred metal. "Tell me again why _I'm_ doing this and not Preed? He is after all the science officer here."

"Because Preed's already taken an instant dislike to her, and would complain most of the time," Korso's voice echoed through the blasted remains.

"As if I'm any better," she grumbled under her breath. "And why won't you just ask the boy?"

"I tried it already, but he didn't say much. I wasn't willing to push it."

"You should have asked him later when he wasn't trying to fight off sleep." Preed started examining some of the dead circuits. "He seemed pretty talkative to me."

"Yah? What did he say?"

"Oh, just stuff, like what colony they were from, how old he was, likes and dislikes, small talk mostly." She paused for a moment. "To think of it, he actually didn't say much about why they were all the way out here, he tried to avoid it."

Korso was examining a circuit when it suddenly shorted out, and he let out a low hiss, dropping his scanner.

His hiss was cut short by booted footsteps walking into the reverberating room.

"Hey Cap'n, we have guests," Stith announced in a more cheerful voice.

Korso clambered out to meet Stith already greeting someone. It took him a moment to recognize that it was the woman they had rescued. It was hard to believe she was blind, she apparently knew exactly where he was. What was more unusual was that she stuck out her hand in his general direction.

"Captain," she said with a slight nod.

Puzzled, Korso asked, "Either you know me very well, or you superb hearing."

"Actually, I've met everyone on the ship but you. I only made a guess."

"Call me Korso," he said, grasping her hand.

"Kenji." She released her surprisingly strong grip. "I believe you've already met Lanzer," she added, gesturing to her right.

Korso nodded, but remembered she couldn't see his consent. "Yes."

She nodded. "Tell me, is the entire console destroyed?"

"The entire?" Korso started before he realized what she was talking about. "Oh, the ship, most of it, except for a section near the pilot's chair, or what's left of it."

"Show me," she commanded.

It was tricky, leading a blind person around the wreckage, but Korso somehow managed to pilot her through it. At the remains of the console, he stopped. Kenji felt gingerly along it with her hands until she found her way underneath it. Korso watched in consternation as she searched beneath it. He noted that her arms had stopped drifting from one side to another, and instead, it appeared that she was trying to pry something off. Just as he bent over to help her, a resounding crack filled the shuttle, and Kenji stood up with a small black box in her hand.

"Got it," she simply said.

She turned to leave, so Korso followed, guiding her back out. Once out in the light, Korso saw there was only a few buttons on the box, and it wasn't completely black. It was more translucent, and network cables and other electronics could be seen. On the right side there was an emblem that he hadn't seen in years. It was a circle that faded out towards the edges with a slanted hexagon in the centre. Within the hexagon, there were three human letters.

"What are you doing with UIA equipment?" he asked suspiciously. He noticed that Lanzer's jawed clenched, and a muscle near Kenji's temple jumped.

Lanzer stepped closer to Kenji, putting his hand on her forearm. She passed the box to him and rested her empty hands on her hips. "We're stealing it."

"Look, we don't need the UIA on our tails. We've enough to run away from as it is," Stith said warningly. "What is it?"

Kenji threw out her arm, waving it around. She caught hold of Lanzer's dark teal hoody, and drew him closer. Korso, Stith, and Akima watched, straining their ears to at least catch some of the conversation between Kenji and Lanzer. It ended with a low hiss from Kenji's teeth, like they had decided, but she wasn't happy with the outcome. She turned back to where they were standing, her eyes moving around them like she could see them.

"It's an information drive. One of untold billions in the UIA's possession." She was cut short by the remainder of the crew walking through the mechanical door.

"The Universal Intelligence Agency guards their data well. It would take a lot to go and take it," Preed commented as he came to a stop beside Korso.

Gune held back, hiding behind Stith's frog-like legs, sensing the tension crackling through the air. Kenji looked down at the floor.

"It was worth it," Lanz spat, taking his hand from the pocket of his dark navy cargo pants.

Akima looked puzzled. "Worth it?"

Kenji raised her head slowly from the floor, saying, "The UIA can't arrest a hacker and an assassin who don't exist."

The silence that fell upon the room threatened to explode in Stith's head. She glanced around carefully, seeing if the others were as shocked as she was. She felt slight satisfaction when she noticed that Preed's mouth was ajar in an undignified way. _But still, a hacker, and a real live assassin?_ Stith told herself to breath. It didn't appear that anyone was going to talk, and chow time was closing in, so she drew a deep breath. "So which one of you is the hacker?" she asked cautiously, but trying to make the mood light.

Lanzer smiled. "I am. You got any food around here?"


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Akima brought Kenji's steaming food pack to her. It wasn't often that they ate warm food on the Valykrie. As she sat down on the bench next to her, grinned inwardly. It wasn't often that they used the dining hall either. She looked around, pleased that everyone hadn't used an excuse to stay away from the table. She tore open the food pack and handed it to Kenji, who grabbed it greedily and started consuming incredibly fast, faster than she thought possible for someone who was blind. It was almost comical the way she did eat, using her hands instead of her fork more often than not. Then again, it was probably more comfortable using her hands, the way she held her fork looked painful and primitive. It was clutched in her hand the way she might hold a dagger, and some of her fingers bent out at odd angles. Akima hardly suppress a laugh when Kenji stopped, her jaw dropping open, letting some food spill out of her mouth.

Akima was at least glad to notice that she wasn't the only one observing Kenji's eating habits. Stith was gripping her stomach, laughing uncontrollably, Korso was chuckling, wiping his eyes, Gune was cackling with his odd squeaks in between, and even Preed cracked a true smile. Only Lanzer showed any disgust.

"Is – everything all – right?" Akima questioned in between bursts of chortling.

Kenji wrinkled her nose. "There's potatoes in this. That's disgusting," she added with further expressions of revulsion.

The metal walls reflected the peals mirth as the tension between the crew of the Valykrie and the two newcomers decreased.

Lanzer looked thoroughly revolted. "Don't encourage her," he muttered, leaning over his food packet. He elbowed her in the side. "At least we get something to eat," he muttered under his breath.

Kenji visibly sobered, and continued to eat her food with a little caution, lest she find another piece of potato. But she would never find one, Akima picked through Kenji's food packet, eating the rest of them.

Korso placed his fork down onto the galvanized table, leaning back against the wall. He intertwined his fingers on the table in front of him, and locked a cool steady gaze at Kenji. "Whom did you work for?" he inquired.

"Ourselves." Kenji continued to eat, refusing to feel threatened.

Korso leaned forward, realizing that this would be more of an interrogation. "I can see a hacker doing that, but an assassin? I think not," he answered himself. "I want specifics, names. Who hired you to kill whom. Those kinds of things."

Kenji sat straighter, locking her eyes in his direction. "It doesn't fucking matter who I murdered, and all you need to know is that I don't reveal my employers."

"The UIA's going to be hot on our tails because you stole something of theirs, and I want to know exactly why you're their target." Korso rarely lost his cool, but he seemed on the verge of it now.

"If you tell them, who cares if they try to turn us in," Lanzer began. "No one's succeeded in that yet."

Kenji gave a slight nod of resignation. "Lanz and I have been trying to make our way through this galaxy ever since we left the drifter colony. Whether that was hiring ourselves out to whoever had the heaviest pocket, or just simply taking it. The UIA is a good for nothing piece of shit, so Lanz and me were helping ourselves to its funds, killing any officials who got in our way. But that's not why they're trailing us. We know of some secret deals they have with another species that wouldn't exactly benefit the people they work for." Though the last statement was specific enough, it was as vague as Kenji had wanted it to be.

Ignoring the shocked stares form the others, Lanz stood up, following Kenji out the door.

"Holy shit, but I thought you were going to tell them everything," Lanzer commented, running his hand through his coal, wind blown looking hair.

"Why, they only need to know a few things." Kenji grasped his shoulder, letting him lead her around.

"Yah, but when you started talking about the UIA, I thought you were going to," he stated.

Kenji nodded her head knowingly. "So where are you taking me?"

Lanzer turned down another hallway. "Well, while Korso was trying to get me to give him a little detail on us two, he said that Akima would be more than willing to share her room. That is, with you." He gave a small chuckle.

Kenji smiled ruefully. It faded quickly, and she said in an undertone, "What do we have as far as transportation goes?"

Lanzer immediately understood her meaning. "I tried checking the computer, but they never leave me alone for more than a minute. I can't find any escape pods or other ships. The only one in the docking bay was ours, and like it's going to get us anywhere. I'll keep looking, but I doubt there's anything here for long distance travel." He was silent for a moment as they walked down the echoing hallway. A constant hum filled his ears. _Probably the circuits,_ he thought. He glanced right and slightly up. It was hard to imagine that Kenji was really blind. She walked confidently with her eyes wide open and staring ahead, as if she could see everything. He studied her features, wondering how it was possible that she was his mother. He looked nothing like her. He'd never seen his father, but he knew that he was more like him than Kenji let on. When Kenji first met Lanz, she obviously avoided looking at him.

He glanced ahead thinking about the first time they had met…

_He sat at the table. Annie put a food packet in front of him. It smelled of Alfredo, pasta, and tin. The rumbling pains in his stomach forced him to open the packet and devour the contents._

_Annie walks away. She mutters, "…Ought to be home now… …Hope she hasn't… Not a good impression…"_

_The door buzzes. Annie jumps. He looks up from eating._

"_It's okay, nothing to worry about." She walks to the door and wrenches it open. Two lawmen in green suits nudge someone inside. He hears muted conversation. He keeps his eyes locked on his packet. Why him? Of all the people science had to meddle with, why him?_

"_Who the hell is that?" The voice is resonating. It is cold. It is without reason._

_He strains to keep his eyes on the table. Two hands plant themselves in front of him on the silver top. The wrists are covered in black bands. The fingernails are short and black. Fishnet covers the arms. A silver ring on her right forefinger glints in the fake light. He blinks. A hand clutches his chin. The hand lifts it. He stares into chocolate eyes. They are outlined in black makeup. They are frigid, unremorseful._

"_He's your son, Kenji." Annie's voice quivers._

_The eyes narrow. "Stop shitting, me Annie. I was never pregnant."_

_He keeps his eyes steady. Kenji glares back._

"_No, you never were pregnant. You only provided the DNA. You and Vash Taolini."_

_The last sentence strikes hard. He thinks he sees tears in those brown pools of frost. They break away. The hand releases his chin. Kenji disappears around a corner. Her hoarse, pained scream echoes through the residence._

And through his memory. Lanzer glanced at Kenji. Her eyes were no longer covered in black makeup, and there was one long scar down the side of her face from a past flying piece of debris. Lanz smiled ruefully. It took Kenji a while before she accepted him as her son. He was only four years younger than she. She never did actually see him as a son, but mostly as a younger brother.

Seeing the hatchway, he stopped. "This is it. You need help inside?" he asked as she walked inside, her hands searching for a nearby object.

She touched a sleeping palette, and immediately lay down, characteristically stretching out. "No thanks. I think I figured it out."

Lanz shut the hatch. Looking past the solid wall, he whispered, "Don't dream too much."

He watched as she moaned, twisting and turning on the palette. He was so close that he could see the individual beads of icy sweat roll off her forehead. She mouthed words, incoherent sentences.

She mumbled something, a name.

"What?" he asked out loud, hoping to enter her sleep encased world. "Speak up, I can't help."

As if emboldened by his statement, she spoke louder. "They've taken him away." It seemed odd that she was capable of sounding so panicked. So helpless.

Knowing who the 'they' was, he asked another question. "Whom have they taken?"

She mumbled something else, but it was lost in her thrashing against invisible foes.

"Whom have they taken, Kenji?" he asked, a little more insistently.

"Vash," she answered.

Satisfied with the answers she provided, the blue glow filling the room disappeared for a moment. He stood, turning to face the screen, waiting for them to come back. He listened closely, for any telltale sign of anyone walking past the slightly ajar door. He visibly jumped when the image reappeared on the screen. The speaker rattled a few, machinated phrases, pausing as it expected an answer.

Preed paused by the door. He had heard shouting, and had come to investigate. The human shouts were interjected by another sentence of groaning and rattling.

"I told you, I don't know who she's looking for! Only that this person disappeared right after an attack by your kind."

"……………………………"

"Alright, alright, I'll do it. But it will mean extra compensation. I'm not that willing to get mixed up with her."

The blue glow vanished after another few words, and the door before Preed slid open more.

Ready with his laser pistol in hand, Preed reached for the throat of whoever came out of the room first. Throwing his prey to the floor, he rested his foot on the throat and pointed the pistol down at the captain.

"So captain, making illegal dealings with a common enemy?" Preed inquired without hesitating.

"What're you gonna do about it?" Korso eyed the gun warily.

Preed unexpectedly smiled. "Absolutely nothing," he replied, replacing the gun with his hand.

"How long have you known?" the Captain asked.

"Since I signed on with this ill-fated mission. Saving all of humanity didn't seem your style.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8

There was a sudden knock at his door, making him just the slightest bit. His dealings with the Drej and Preed had left Korso a little on edge. However, if someone was waiting on the other side of the soundproof door, then he had to act as if nothing was going on.

"Enter."

Akima poked her head through the door. I just finished on the commlink. He says it's possible, but it depends on the extent of the damage. He said that he'd have to see her before he can make any final decisions."

_That would take more time, time I don't have,_ he thought. _Then again, she might prove valuable to them._ "Then you had better get Kenji, see what her thoughts are."

"Right," she replied with a slight nod of her head.

When the mechanical door ceased its hissing, Korso slumped onto the edge of his cot, his head sinking into his hands. He sat for a moment, his mind reeling with everything inside it. His nostrils flared slightly, and he brought his head up sharply. Perhaps a little too sharply, for he struck his head on the overhang. Wincing, he ran his hand over the injury, checking for blood.

"You're in too deep for second-guessing, Korso," he breathed, addressing himself, as he made his way to the control room.

Akima panted as she caught up with Lanzer. "Any sign?" she asked between breaths.

"None. She hasn't returned to her room since you checked.

"How the _hell_ does she get around? She's blind!"

Lanzer shrugged. "I guess maybe the way she pilot a ship without paying attention," he answered, smiling.

Akima gave a questioning look, but wasn't given the chance to ask.

"She's in the docking bay."

The assuredness in his voice made Akima question even more. She turned after him, running double time to catch up.

"What make's you so sure?"

"It the same reason as to why we're running." He kept his eyes trained ahead on the door at the end of the corridor.

"Can I ask that question then?" Akima asked glancing across to him, studying the concern etched on his brow.

Lanzer looked down slightly, before retaining his raptor like gaze. "I don't know if I should tell you this, but it might help keep her alive."

Akima felt icy tendrils sink into her knees, but she let Lanzer go on at his own pace. He said nothing, but stopped at the door, and punched in a code he wasn't supposed to know.

"Clones tend to have special abilities, but for every ability, there's a down side. Kenji can sort of see things without looking. It's not exactly like the seeing you do with your eyes. It's more just _feeling_ with your mind. It sounds stupid, but that's how she explains it."

Akima felt as if she were sliding down a ladder into a pit she wouldn't be able to find her way out of. All she had to do was grab a rung, then she would be safe, but like a half starved shark, she hungered for more.

"What's the downside?" she questioned as they rounded another corner.

When Lanzer didn't answer, she cursed herself for stepping one stone too far.

He didn't talk until they were waiting for the elevator to reach the bottom level. "She has horrible night mares. She can 'see' things from the real world and somehow they incorporate themselves into her dreams. Sometimes she can have night mares that are in some ways true." His last sentence hung in the air for what seemed and eternity. "Usually when they are true, Kenji tries to run someplace that's vaguely part of her dream, get some more information, and kill herself."

Akima steadied her voice before she made a comment. "Apparently you're just one step ahead of her every time."

Lanzer half-smirked at her attempt to lighten the mood. Akima found herself being drawn to him, despite the warnings Korso had given his crew. Lanzer was a lot like her younger brother. Akima fervently hoped that Lanzer wouldn't meet them same fate.

They found Kenji sitting in the battered spacecraft, trying her best to mend two wires together. Every time they touched, a blurred image faded in and out on the cracked screen behind her. Snippets of conversation echoed from a remaining speaker situated before Kenji.

Lanzer put his hand around Kenji's wrist. "Tell me," he simply said.

"Something about Nego. Something from the last moments is a clue."

Akima felt like she was falling into the pit again. She felt lightheaded, and put her hand out on the edge of the blast-hole to steady herself.

"Why'd you bring her?" Kenji asked. Akima was slightly shaken, but Lanzer's explanation swept to mind.

"We can trust her. Here, give me the wires." He wrestled them away from her, twisting them together, and adding another to the combination. The screen blinked a few times before coming in clear, if a little blurred near the cracks. The speaker rattled.

A Drej appeared, filling the screen, giving the order to surrender or be annihilated. There was shouting in the background. It sounded like Lanzer. The Drej continued to order surrender.

"What am I looking for, Kenji?" Lanzer asked, not taking his gaze from the screen.

Akima was breathing sharply, and trembling, and it wasn't because of the Drej. _Who are they?_

"A small jump in the picture, near the Drej's eyes. I noticed it before they fired. It was too regulated to be normal."

Akima trained her eyes on the area, and was surprised to see the eye itself jump. Staring closer, she told herself it was her own eyes. The Drej were perfect energy compositions. They weren't troubled by muscle spasms. They stayed one shape their entire functioning lives, unless shot with a laser gun, or if something was manipulating the entire Drej colony.

The lurching continued, however. Akima felt even dizzier, and the loose electrical charges were prickling the sides of her eyes, making them throb. She blinked them shut, squeezing the lids together to clear them.

"It's a message, isn't it?" Kenji asked. Akima wondered why Kenji didn't just look with her 'eyes'. Then again, maybe Kenji couldn't 'see' that way.

Lanzer grunted his assent, but continued to watch. "It's some sort of code, but none of the universal ones."

"Maybe a human one."

Lanzer watched intently.

"Hurry, the recording's almost through. I don't know if it can handle much more than this."

Lanzer was silent for a moment longer. "It's Morse code."

Akima looked at him, incredulity in her gaze. "But it's an almost forgotten code."

Lanzer furrowed his brow as the message blurred and went blank with a huge bleep. "Exactly. Whoever sent the message didn't want it to fall into the wrong hands."

"Can you make it play again?" Kenji asked, the cold edge to her voice once more.

Lanzer mumbled something that Akima didn't hear, but it seemed to satisfy Kenji, for she didn't press him again. Lanzer turned and fiddled with the wires again, this time adding a few others. Contented with whatever he had accomplished, he crouched beside Kenji near what was left of the control panel. He pressed a few buttons, and the picture reappeared, but it only showed the incredible disruption as a Drej blast rocked the ship.

"Hold on just a sec," Lanzer muttered.

He adjusted a few more dials, and the picture played in reverse. Akima saw the Drej disappear from view just as Lanzer reversed the play. She watched as the ship shook from a Drej blast just as the spokesman appeared on the screen. Its incessant demands for surrender had to fight over other disruptions. Akima saw Kenji leap across the room to some other control panel as another blast held the ship. She stared as Kenji dragged an unconscious Lanzer away from a blue shockwave that laced the control panel. Her attention was drawn back to the Drej as its eye started to twitch. Not knowing the code, she studied the face of Kenji, her sightless, burnt eyes fixated on the screen. Her lips moved with the screams of someone not seen in the screen. Lanzer watched the gaze intently, his raptor gaze daring the code to solve itself. Akima turned her own gaze back to the screen. Her heart jumped to her throat when the picture started to deteriorate, mixing grey fuzz with the blue of the Drej glow. A soft moan escaped her lips as the screen went dark entirely. She pulled at her violet forelocks, frustration balling up in her throat.

"It was a warning from him," Lanzer said quietly.

"What about?" Akima couldn't hold her curiosity anymore.

"Nego was warning us of humans who had traded their loyalty to the Drej. He warned that the Drej are working with the UIA to finalize their death grip on us. Nego was about to give some names of those certain people right before the recording gave out." Lanzer ran his hand through his hair, wiping the sweat from his forehead.

Akima was caught off guard when Kenji rose abruptly, snatching the pistol from Akima's holster. Kenji's sightless eyes bored right through Akima's skin. "Fuck, I knew this was too serious for me. What the hell to you want?" Akima asked vehemently.

"The truth." It was that cold voice that shouldn't emanate from a living, breathing human. "Don't try and move, your pistol has the added feature of following body heat. Fortunate for me, unfortunate for you."

"What kind of truth? Truth like what I want from you two, an unlikely couple of refugees hiding from both the Drej _and the UIA_! Oh, sure, I can use you too to try and commit mutiny on this ship." She tried to make her voice drip with sarcasm at her last comment.

"Keep talking," ordered Kenji.

"I know you're both running from the UIA for stealing any information about you both, but I have no fucking idea about why you're running from the Drej. Believe me, I don't want to know anymore. I have my own problems and I don't need your bullshit as well."

Kenji gave her characteristic half smile. She dropped the gun from under Akima's chin, pointing the handle at her instead. "I trust you. You're one of the few that earn that right."

Lanzer stepped forward from the shadows into the light of the gaping hole. "I hate to break this up, but the captain did order us to the central command center."

Trying to conceal a deep breath, Akima nodded in his direction. "Right. Kenji, I know you can still see with your sort of mind power -"

"Is that what Lanz told you?" She gave her half smile again before continuing. "It's more like trying to see through a brick wall. Sometimes the sounds that seep through give you an idea as to what's happening on the other side. It's not very reliable."

Akima nodded slightly, looking at the floor. "So then maybe you'll agree to our offer."

"Our?"

"Korso and mine."

"Then let's go."

Even with her 'sight', Kenji still needed Akima to guide her through the hallways. Once or twice Kenji ordered them to stop. Lanzer saw that Kenji was dizzy from trying to exert her 'eyes' to beyond their normal limits. She had been trying to do it ever since she realized that she was blind. Whatever this proposition was, it was better than Kenji giving herself even more nightmares. Lanzer mentally shuddered to think what would have happened had he and Akima not been there to puzzle out the message, giving Kenji something else to focus on.

He glanced slightly over his shoulder at Stith. _Poor thing_, he thought. _She's half a universe away from any of her own kind._ It was the first time that he had met anything like Stith, and in the few days that he and Kenji had been on the ship, he had grown fond of her. She certainly wasn't family material, but that didn't stop him from wishing that she had been his mother, not Kenji, even if it was only through DNA.

Though he and Kenji shared a bond, there were times when he loathed having to put up with her unintelligible intellect and cold, abrupt manner. From the first day, Lanzer had thought of Kenji as an explosive waiting to go off; and explosive that no one knows how to detonate, or prevent from detonation.

Feeling guilty for his thoughts, Lanzer tried to remember how she had saved him from the electric jolt that had spiked his controls, and then how she threw her arm over his eyes to protect them from the flash, sacrificing her own.

Shaking himself free of such thoughts, he waited as the lift door opened up into the command center, opening up into Kenji's second chance at sight.


	9. Note 1

This isn't actually a chapter, but I felt that it was important.

It seems that all my chapters were all mixed up, and I didn't realize it until now. I hope all you peoples read it in order, but if not, just quickly skim over it so you're familiar, otherwise it won't make much sense.

Thx a whole bunch.

P.S. Review lots, I really like it. Oh, if you like this stuff, I have a story on  Look for a story called 'Death by Life'. Sounds corny, but I couldn't think of anything else.


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